"Hah!"
Nikita thrust her fist forward, punching a giant boulder that was blocking the way to the entrance.
Boom!!
A loud sound resounded as her delicate, milky white hand made contact with the boulder. The huge mass of the boulder cracked as it slowly broke apart and crumbled to the ground.
The shock wave also blew away the trampled trees in the way.
Everyone stared at that scene with widened eyes, their mouth agape in shock. Alya's eyebrow twitches slightly.
"No matter how many times I see it, I can't help but wonder just how a woman with such a dainty figure contains such monstrous strength?"
"Well... that isn't a question anyone can answer, is it?"
"I suppose not, but still, imagine how strong they'd be in bed."
"Cough, Alya, please stop with that. I honestly don't need to think of something that might cause me nightmares later."
My face suddenly turned red as an image flashed through my mind, and I immediately discarded such a thought.
"Oh, my. Haruto, your face is really red."
Alya said with a playful grin that tugged at her lips. At that, my brow twitches.
You're the one saying strange things.
"Enough, my face is red because we've been under the sun for a while, got it! And Alya, please stop saying such weird things so suddenly."
I said as cold sweat ran down my back. I received a glare from Nikita, which made my heart freeze as she smiled, that definitely wasn't a smile.
"I do wonder what you meant by, might cause you to have nightmares later?"
She closed the distance between us and peered at my face closely. She smiled in such a way that her crimson eyes formed a crescent shape.
I looked at Alya seeking her assistance, but she simply ignored my gaze as she glanced around the surroundings.
As for the brown-haired man and the bearded man, their expression was filled with pity.
The air grew strangely awkward as Nikita peered at my face from a proximity to the point that I could easily make out every beautiful feature of her well-formed face.
"Ah, right, we were going to explore that cave over there to find the missing villagers, right? let's not take too long, I mean, who knows what kind of state they might be in right now."
To escape the ordeal I was in, I quickly brought the conversation back to the main point.
At that, the brown-haired man quickly spoke up a bit nervously while awkwardly avoiding the cold stare he was receiving from Nikita.
"Y-yes, he is right, after all, they had been missing for weeks now, they must be in quite a precarious state."
"You heard him, Nikita. You can have all the time in the world to interrogate Haruto later. For now, let's go."
Alya said while bringing her hand against her mouth, letting out an amused giggle. Hey! At least help me out here, will you? What kind of spirit abandons its contractor?
I wanted to shout, instead. The corner of my mouth twitches slightly.
My thoughts were transmitted to Alya through the use of 'Telepathy', but she naturally pretended she didn't hear anything strange, how mean.
"Alright, what about those two? Are we bringing them along with us?"
With the sound argument of the kidnapped villagers, Nikita could only heave a sigh as she asked, glancing between Alya and me before glancing at the brown-haired man, then looked at the bearded man questioningly.
She does have a point. What should we do about them?
Should we bring them along or leave them behind? It's a tough decision.
If we bring them, they might end up becoming a burden or a hindrance to us, while on the other hand, leaving them behind, they might get attacked by monsters while we're away.
A frown appeared on my face as I placed my hand inside my silky black hair, as I pondered to myself.
Alya then came up from my left and leaned onto my shoulder coquettishly and gently whispered into my ear.
"Haruto, why not bring them along? I don't see any problem. It would be troublesome if a monster like that black serpent is lurking inside that cave, with all of us here. It should be fine, no."
"Hmm, well, I guess you're right. Can you alert me if you sense anything strange?"
"Yup, leave it to me."
Alya replied cheerfully, her tone filled with liveliness. At that, Nikita narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Hey! What were you guys whispering about?"
"Oh, nothing you have to be jealous about, we were just talking about how it's fine to bring those two fellows along with us."
Alya said, shrugging her shoulders. The two men who were mentioned flinched their shoulders in response to Alya's words.
"W-wait!"
"Yes?"
I asked, tilting my head. The bearded man who hadn't spoken a single word since we arrived suddenly spoke frantically.
"Are you saying we have to come along too?"
"Is there a problem if you do?"
I inquired curiously.
"Cut the crap! There is no way in hell I'm going back inside that hellhole. If you want to save those guys whose lives might have ended long ago, then be my guess but, but I'm not entering that place again for anyone's sake."
He shouted. Anger was visible on his face.
"I see, then does that mean you're staying out here in this forest alone, where the monsters could easily attack you? Cowardice truly is unsightly."
Nikita said, as her crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
"What the hell did you just say? You damn demi-human?! You think an animal like you has the right to talk down to us humans, who are clearly superior to you, foul beast!"
He shouted glaringly at Nikita, who was casually playing with her silver hair.
But when she heard the words of the bearded man, her crimson pupils contracted as a flash of murderous intent shone in her eyes.
A deathly silence filled the atmosphere. Nikita's crimson eyes narrowed as her eyebrow curved slightly; her mouth was twitching as she glared at the bearded man before her.
(This isn't good at this rate; things wouldn't be too good)
A dangerous air continued to flow between Nikita and the bearded man. I'm quite surprised Nikita hadn't killed him already.
Though it would be really bad for us if she did.
Alya looked at the bearded man as though she was looking at a fool; instead of saying something, she let out a breath and opened her mouth.
"In that case, you're on your own. I personally do not care whether you live or die, if your so scared that you don't even want to go in, then you'd be nothing but a burden to us anyway."
Alya mercilessly said so with an icy, cold voice. Her emerald eyes shone mysteriously as she glared at the bearded man. For a moment, his body froze as he stared into her gemlike eyes. At that-
"I see... well then, shall we go, then?"
"Oh, we haven't asked your name yet, right?"
I asked. Turning my gaze towards the brown-haired man.
"Oh, right, I'm Ben."
He replied.
I looked around and asked everyone. They all nodded their head. Ben nodded his head vigorously. It didn't seem like he was scared, or rather, saying he wasn't scared was wrong; it seems he's suppressing his own emotion to not run away.
Seeing that I nodded in satisfaction. I didn't think we should waste our time on this matter anymore, after all, it's not like I have any obligation to protect that man. If he wants to stay out here on his own, then so be it.
We then went inside the entrance of the cave and went towards the dark, narrow corners of the cave.
The room was shrouded in black as the sound of water dropping from the ceiling sounded.
(This darkness is going to be quite troublesome.)
I thought annoyedly, before holding out my palm.
"Mother of fire, bring heat to my surroundings, flare ball."
I said in a faint voice. A magic circle was formed before my outstretched palm. And a tiny ball of fire was created. Since I only wanted to create a light source, I only added a small amount of mana to the magic formation.
Thus, the ball of flame only became a speck.
The light of the flare faintly illuminated the surroundings, making it easier to see what lies ahead in the dense darkness.
We walked for minutes as the minutes slowly turned to hours. There was no sign of any monsters or humans, only a heavy silence where only the sound of footsteps and everyone's heavy breathing could be heard.
"Nikita, do you hear anything?"
I asked, walking up next to her. Hearing my question, Nikita shook her head with a pensive expression.
"No, I can't hear anything at the moment."
Nikita answered uneasily.
Hmm... her complexion wasn't looking so good; I observed Nikita's expression, who had a pale face.
Alya, who was walking close by behind us, also noticed the change in Nikita's expression and opened her mouth.
"Mm, Nikita, is there something wrong?"
Alya inquired curiously.
"I-I can faintly smell the scent of blood."
She said before pointing up ahead, we then hurriedly made our way in that direction. We walked further down into the darkness, but then-
"Hmm?"
"Haruto, is there something wrong?"
Alya asked. I didn't give her an answer, but instead I moved my hand, which held the flare and shone it downwards, so that the ground became visible.
"!"
Alya's pupils contracted as she sucked in a breath of cold air. Everyone also had the same reaction because on the uneven ground, there were red blood stains that looked like it was there for a few days.
The blood was still wet, but it didn't look freshly made.
"Tch, not good. It seems we might have been a little too late."
Alya said as she glanced at the blood stains. Ben stood still and stared blankly at the blood stains, unmoving.
"The children...."
He muttered, his face becoming ashen.
"No, let's go deeper down, maybe there are at least a few survivors left."
I said as my expression became serious; I slowly clenched my fist as I walked ahead.
The others silently followed behind me without uttering a single word.
My flare flickered faintly as I walked into a small, curvy entrance that led to a small room inside the cave. What I saw caused not only my pupils to tremble but everyone else as well.
On the ground were countless detached body parts of various people. Hands, legs, eyeballs and even heads of adults who had horrified expressions on their faces, their blood mixing and painting the ground.
It was a carnage scene that would sicken anyone who was unfortunate enough to witness it.
Ben dropped to his knees as he started to cough violently, throwing up.
Meanwhile. A bitter grimace appeared on Alya's face as she observed the area. Nikita covered her nose as she frowned slightly.
As for me, I stared blankly at the scene but strangely enough.... I felt nothing. Is it because I didn't know these people?
No, it can't be that I think it happened when I had that dream, when I ended up on that carnage battlefield.
Since then, nothing really seems to face me anymore. I sighed slightly as I turned my back.
"Let's go."
I said in a near-indifferent voice. These people were already dead so there was no use crying now we should at least try to save the ones who might still be alive. I quietly told myself.